Sandeep Pareek, acting director of municipal works, provides council a presentation on the city's Transportation Master Plan on Tuesday. Council has postponed consideration of adoption of the plans until next year following community feedback.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
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Council has decided to postpone a decision on the Transportation Master Plan, the Active Transportation Strategy and the Transportation Safety Strategy until the first quarter of 2026 due to concerns and questions brought up by members of the community.
The postponement is intended to provide an opportunity for further public engagement related to the plans through public hearings and will come back before a new council next year.
The Transportation Master Plan and its associated strategies are based on various provincial and city statutory documents like the Municipal Government Act. It provides a framework for future planning policy direction, and an updated version will be required to plan any future capital projects.
“Whether they are to expand current roads, build new arterials, or upgrade existing infrastructure to accommodate multimodes of transportation,” reads a request for decision.
The draft of the master plan and strategies were finalized and presented to council for adoption following two public open houses, a public survey earlier in the year and a non-statutory public hearing in July.
During this hearing 29 people spoke and the council received 113 written submissions, which included 86 letters of opposition.
Following this hearing, staffers developed a summary which found one key message received from the public was that they felt unheard by city staff.
“Given the importance of these documents, it is critical that clear public understanding is achieved regarding what the documents are and what they are not,” reads a request for decision.
Nine themes were identified after reviewing the public hearing submissions from July: Decision influence, timing, point of contact and follow through, awareness, focus groups, surveys, open horse, public hearings and the final plan.
One specific issue mentioned include trail connections. One example is the continuous trail running from Police Point to Ranchlands, but signage shows no trespassing and more clarity is needed.
The city also wants to establish a communication standard for all road and trail closures.
The city also received feedback around the usage of Elephants’ Feet for users on bicycles, e-scooters and skateboards.
Staffers are also considering feedback from local businesses and looking at ways to improve transparency around the costs of road and trail projects.
Council directed city administration to review and revise the Public Participation Policy to include options for the next council that ensure all public comments received are provided unedited.
Council also wants the city to develop clear mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability in how public feedback is collected, reported and considered in decision-making.
Council would like these updates finished no later than December this year to allow sufficient time for review and implementation by the next council.
